Pages

Saturday, 30 July 2011

I'm mainly talking about fantasy, here, because that's my pet topic - but it does concern some other genres, too.

You know those sprawling epic fantasy series? The ones with lots of intrigue, politics and character development? Those are the ones I mean. I love those kind of things, but there are things that annoy the H out of me. Here's some of them...

There's usually a large time span between publication dates. At the start, they'll be reasonable, but move more and more apart as the series continues. Don't get me wrong, as a writer I totally understand. As a reader, however, it's inconvenient to say the least.

With some of them, later in the series, there's no more hardback books. I like having all books in a series in the same kind of edition, so I'm not a fan of this.

They require a lot of attention. There's so much detail in these books (I'm thinking Game of Thrones or Wheel of Time, or the Cheysuli Chronicles) - that's what makes them so fascinating - that the whole experience looses a lot if you can't read one book after another. I'm not talking publication this time, but pure reading time. I mean, who has the leisure to read 12 books in a row? Or the attention span?

Halfway through the series, they bring out a new cover design. *sigh*

Unless they're REALLY good, there's bits that the story could have done without. At least in my opinion. At some point, it has to end, right?

Then there's the stories where the poor hero NEVER gets left in peace. One book ends, happy ending, but you just KNOW the poor guy's world will be shattered all over again in the next one. And the next. And the next. Leave him alone, already!

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Yesterday I told you about the new website/blog for my critique group, The Book Bunnies. Today I'm going to tell you 10 things you absolutely should know about us...

It took us, oh, maybe 2 months to come up with the name "The Book Bunnies" for our critique group's blog. In case you're wondering... we each of us have our own plot bunny farms, so book bunnies seemed the logical choice...eventually

We bonded over last year's NaNoWriMo. All of us had a blast, and the sense of community really helped get into the writing game.

All 6 of us write romance of some kind or another...

Four of us write m/m stories - that is, romance between two men. All of us greatly appreciate the "beauty of the male form", as Sasha put it...

Sasha Conte is my pen(name)sister, in case you were wondering about the name.

Kerry Freeman is a published author (!!). Her short story "Realize" is available at Torquere Press, and the novel she's been working on is set to be published, too.

We read. Lots. And then we talk about it... possibly on our newly minted website... ; )

Tuesday, 12 July 2011

I'm on holiday. I'm guessing a fair percentage of you guys are, too... or about to go, or already back. Here's 10 things I think everyone on summer holidays should remember/think of/have fun with...

Summer holidays require...wait for it...SUN. Ideally including sand and water of some sort or another. If you can't get to the beach, bring the beach to you... buy a mini zen garden, stirr the sand (ideally once it's warm from the sun) with your fingers (maybe sprinkle some on your hair for extra post-beach shower feeling later on). Have some ice-cold lemonade, or sangria. Put on your sunglasses and enjoy. Hey, presto, instant beach feeling.

Most summer holidays involve traffic jams or airport waiting times of some sort. So really, think about that zen garden.

Heat is nice. Unless you forget your sunscreen, your bottle of water, or your airconditioning is broken. Again with the zen garden.

Remember that pre-summer diet you meant to go on? Forget about it. Put it back on your schedule for post-christmanstime...

Summer holidays mean time to relax, to be yourself, to recharge those batteries. Don't forget that! Holidays can be stressful - don't let it get to you. Zen garden, I'm telling you.

BEFORE you go on holiday, sit down and write one of those "Last Summer I did..." essays we all used to dread be thrilled about when we were in school... write down everything you think your summer holiday should be about, then go to sleep. The next morning, read it and set out to do as much of the stuff in that essay as you can manage.

Don't go for one of those student-type get-as-drunk-as-possible holidays. You do want to remember what you were up to, right? Or maybe you don't...

Write postcards to friends and family. In the days of electronic everything, it's unbelievably nice to have something other than bills and/or stuff you ordered yourself in your mail. Also, it's nice to have a box of them and leaf through them on occasion.

Don't vanish off the face of the earth when you go on holiday. I have a bad habit of doing this - not answering my phone when I'm away and all that. Thanks to modern technology for making keeping in touch so easy... #lazyTessa...

Last but not least... HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!! Let me know if you want a postcard from Spain... ; P

Thursday, 7 July 2011

(*sorry, in the process of reorganizing my blog I seem to have mislaid the picture*)

OK, OK, so I overdid the design a bit... sorry

; P

I'm calling it the Hatefest for short. (MWAHAHAHA and all that)

Here's the rules my dearies:

Sign up by the end of August 12th

On August 12th, post a story, an excerpt of your work or a poem you've written that shows HATE of some form or another - your character hates someone, someone hates your character, or maybe you hate someone/something?

Once you've posted, go check out the other entries and share some comment love!

Don't forget to link back to my blog when you post so people can find the other entries

If you want to win something...

Now, for this blogfest, I shall be giving away some ebooks for your reading pleasure...

The 3 winners shall then be chosen by random.org and announced on August 18th. If you want to take part in the giveaway/contest but you already have one or more of those books, let me know so you don't get a double...